Season 5 Episode 9

The Health Communications Imperative

I’ve spent the last year as a fellow for Public Health Post, developing skills to disseminate public health research and information to wider audiences. The work of PHP strives to increase public health literacy through effective health communication… but what exactly is health communication? Experts define it as the study and use of communication strategies to inform and influence individual and community decisions that enhance health.

While academic research is usually communicated through published journals, most people depend on mass communicators like journalists, politicians, influencers, and other platforms like PHP to cut through the jargon and learn what they need to know to live healthy, well-informed lives. In today’s social and political landscape of rampant misinformation and disinformation, it’s more important than ever to have effective health communication by meeting people where they’re at and explaining science in an accessible way.

As my fellowship comes to an end, I’m left to wonder: what more needs to be done? Why is the work of PHP and other health communication platforms so important, and how can we do it even better? How does misinformation spread in a post-COVID world, and how can we combat it? How can health communication evolve and engage more people in population health-centered conversations?

In the final episode of PHPod Season 5, join me to examine the world of health communications, how it can improve, and why we need it now more than ever.